Christmas fun

This has been the most stressful Christmas for me! Because of the unusually heavy workload (for this time of the year), I wasn't able to take leave on some days that I was supposed to be on leave and as a result had less time to do my Christmas shopping. And of course I just had to volunteer to bring a pinata to the Christmas party and so I spent Christmas Eve working on a pinata with the girls while KK wrapped the presents.

I am most pleased with my pinata making skills. We managed to make something that looked like a Christmas tree. But unfortunately, when it was whacked by the kids, it tore at the top end instead of the mid section or bottom end. But I'll work on that...

Anyway, yesterday's Christmas party with the usual gang was fun. The kids whacked at the pinata, played Twister (see picture of Tai Pi and the boys all twisted) and unwrapped their presents. Tai Pi was a little disappointed that she got clothes and more clothes. And poor Pumpkin developed fever during the party and missed out on the pinata fun as she was taking a nap. She asked about the pinata after she woke up and I had to break the news to her that she missed it. Poor thing.

And see Pumpkin's new hairdo. She wanted to have her hair short and so we had it cut on Christmas Eve. I was afraid she wouldn't look good with short hair but she still looks as adorable as ever!

Tai Pi learns a lesson or two

Lesson #1
The Saturday after Tai Pi made her first $10, she went to work again, eager to make another $10. When we went to pick her up in the evening, she appeared gloomy and we found out from the Lau Ban Niang that Tai Pi and her friends (Lau Ban's children) were at one part of the afternoon, playing more than they were working. And so they got a scolding from the Lau Ban Niang and Tai Pi was paid only $8 for her day's labour. She's lucky to get $8; the Lau Ban's children got zilch. Let's hope Tai Pi learns from this experience that if you are going to monkey around, you'll be paid peanuts....

Lesson #2
Last Wednesday, Tai Pi committed the cardinal sin of writing on my luxury Italian designer sofa with a marker... and this was not the first time. I couldn't be more mad and was screaming my head off at her. Why did she do that? As she said, she "wasn't thinking". To give her a taste of her own medicine, I forced her to write her name (that's what she wrote on the sofa) on her favourite stuff toy - a most adorable little green thing with an oversized head and a little leaf coming out of its head. She cried her heart out as she wrote her name on the toy. I was upset too as I also love that cute little thing. But sometimes, the only way to teach someone a lesson is to do it the hard way. I asked Tai Pi how it felt to have her favourite possession dirtied like that and she said she felt sad and I explained to her that that's how I feel when she dirties my sofa. Fortunately the marker was not a strong one and we were able to wash off the markings from the sofa and the stuff toy. Only time will tell if Tai Pi remembers this lesson.

Tai Pi goes to work

We always felt that the girls could do with a better sense of the value of money. So when the chance for Tai Pi to work at a friend's office presented itself, we asked her to go for it. She didn't need much persuading; the $10 a day pay was enough to entice her. So last Thursday, she spent the day sticking on barcodes and attaching hair elastic to cardboard pieces. But it was not all work. She and her fellow worker (Boss' son) had lunch at McDonald's and also played hide and seek at the office. At the end of the day, she was rewarded with her first pay. See picture of Tai Pi with her hard earned money.

Tai Pi was eager to make some more money and so this morning we sent her to work again. When I spoke to her on the phone this afternoon, she was complaining that her fellow workers (Boss' sons) were teasing her. Well, when she grows up, she'll probably encounter difficult colleagues so might as well learn to deal with it now....